Other hotel pet peeves

A couple of years ago, I wrote about some annoyances I encountered while staying at hotels. Last night, at a fairly upscale hotel associated with a casino in the northeast, I encountered a few more.

When I entered the room, the bed had been turned down, chocolates had been placed on it, and the radio had been turned on. I turned off the radio, and didn’t notice that the alarm had been left on by the previous guest. My blissful sleep was rudely interrupted by the alarm at 6:00 a.m., long before my intended hour of waking. I don’t think it’s incumbent upon the hotel guest to figure out whether the alarm clock in a hotel room (of which there are infinite confusing varieties) has been armed; that should be an item on the housekeeping check list, especially when a housekeeper is tasked with turning on the same radio as part of the hotel’s turn down service.

Were it not for the rude awakening I experienced, I would not be writing this. But as long as I’m ranting, this hotel had a loose faucet in the bathroom sink that no housekeeper could have missed while cleaning the room. The room, recently (and apparently expensively) renovated, also had a paucity of soft surfaces, such as drapes and rugs. While I was on the phone, I sounded like I was in an echo chamber, and noises from the hallway and other rooms were quite audible. The heavy doors also clanged loudly when closed by guests.

I do not envy the jobs of hotel housekeepers, whom I’ve heard work to a very tight schedule and sometimes encounter the messes left very inconsiderate guests that make their jobs more difficult and increase the pressures on them. However, I think they are the crucial eyes and ears that must be trained to look for certain things, and correct or report them, before the room is released to a guest. Management, please take note.